Rush
Limbaugh should have been pulled from our airwaves years ago. I
don't understand why he has so much power. Could it be that
ignorance really is BLISS??? If so, it's too late for me to get
that IGNORANT at this stage of the game. WOE IS ME! thinkingblue

"O,
woe is me, T'have seen what I have seen, see what I see!"
-Ophelia-

WASHINGTON -- The Hall of Famous Missourians in the Missouri
State Capitol is filled with the busts of famous people from the
Show-Me State. There are political figures (Harry Truman, John
Ashcroft), writers (Laura Ingalls Wilder), musicians (Scott
Joplin, Charlie Parker) and even a game show host (Bob Barker).
Right-wing radio personality Rush Limbaugh, who is currently embroiled in controversy after he called a
female law student advocating for contraception coverage a
"slut," will soon be joining that esteemed group.

On Feb. 13, Kansas City, Mo. sculptor E. Spencer Schubert
posted on his blog that he was in the process of sculpting busts of Limbaugh and Dred Scott,
a slave who unsuccessfully sued for freedom for himself and his
family in the famous 1857 case Dred Scott v. Sandford, to go into
the Missouri State Capitol. Sean Nicholson of Progress Missouri was
first to flag the post. From Schubert's site:

A staffer in the office of the Missouri House of
Representatives did not know anything about the Limbaugh project
but said that the individuals are chosen by the House Speaker.
The picks do not require the approval of full chamber.

Leann Hager, a legislative assistant with Speaker Steven
Tilley (R-Perryville), confirmed to The Huffington Post that
Tilley had chosen three individuals to be honored this year:
Limbaugh, Scott, and baseball legend Buck O'Neil, who was just
inducted.

Schubert, who also sculpted the bust of O'Neil, did not return
a request for comment.

Limbaugh is currently facing a torrent of criticism from both
the right and the left for calling Georgetown
law student Sandra Fluke, who spoke out in favor of contraception
coverage, a "slut" and a "prostitute"
last week. Limbaugh issued an apology for his comments on
Saturday, but that has not stopped advertisers -- including AOL, the parent company of The Huffington
Post -- from severing ties with his program.

UPDATE: 3:08 p.m. -- The link to the page with Schubert working on
the bust of Limbaugh is no longer working. The Huffington Post
saved a copy of the picture:

UPDATE: 5:36 p.m. -- Sen. Claire McCaskill
(D-Mo.) said Monday on MSNBC's "Hardball" that she
opposes the inclusion of Limbaugh in the Hall of Famous
Missourians. "He shouldn't be in this hall of fame next to
Harry Truman, Mark Twain and Gen. Omar Bradley," she said.
McCaskill has a petition on her campaign website on the
issue.

WATCH

UPDATE: 6:10 p.m. -- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
reports that the busts are paid for with private funds raised by the
Speaker, and that Limbaugh is expected to be inducted at the end
of the legislative session in May. When asked about the selection
of Limbaugh, Tilley told the Southeast Missourian,
"Keep this in mind: It's not called the Hall of Universally
Loved Missourians. We've inducted people like John Ashcroft,
Warren Hearnes and Harry Truman. They certainly had their detractors."

[Mother
Teresa] was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of
poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent
her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the
empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a
livestock version of compulsory reproduction.
- Christopher Hitchens -